A 68-year-old Shivaji Park based housewife was duped to the tune of ₹1.81 lakh in a KYC fraud after the scamster sent her a message claiming her banking services will be terminated if she fails to update her account. Falling prey to the con, the sexagenarian was tricked into sharing her personal and privy bank details, only to be cheated. While she approached police, a case was registered against the unidentified accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.
According to the police sources, the complainant had received a text message on Saturday from 'Tele Banking Services', which read that the services will be terminated, along with a phone number. Panicked, the woman immediately contacted the number, wherein a man, who identified himself as Nikhil Choudhary, asked her to download a banking app to complete the process, wherein she raised ab alarm. Choudhary then connected her to his boss, who instructed the woman to do the same.
The woman obliged and downloaded the app, followed by which inserted the account number and other details on the phone, which were accessible to the caller as well, and shared the OTPs too. After following the instructions, the money was debited from her account, following which she questioned the caller, who asked her to share details of other bank accounts.
In the FIR, the complainant claimed that when she asked the caller why he needed the details, he always asked her to trust him. After using the same modus operandi on two other bank accounts, the caller had siphoned off ₹1.81 lakh from the sexagenarian's account, and assured that the money will be refunded the next day. Surprisingly, the caller also asked the woman to delete all banking related messages 'to make space for incoming messages', thus deleting all evidence against the scamster.
When the woman reiterated the incident to her daughter, she was convinced that her mother was duped and blocked all the cards. The woman then approached the Shivaji Park police station and lodged a complaint, following which a case was registered against the unidentified accused. While no arrests have been made, police probe is underway.
